First-Year Graduate Students Work with Microsoft Client Advisors to Increase Internet Availability Worldwide

Business Consulting Projects have traditionally provided first-year full-time Eller graduate students with an opportunity to work directly with prestigious companies to develop significant business solutions. However, a pilot project proposed by Microsoft this spring had a different goal: to develop substantial social impact.

As an integral part of its corporate mission, Microsoft has committed to working with local communities around the world to bring broadband connectivity to some of the 4 billion global citizens who are not currently online. While the goal is simple, attaining it is less straightforward.

To help achieve its mission, the global company turned to the Eller College of Management. Microsoft has worked successfully with Eller Business Consulting Projects for seven years, so it was a natural choice for the company to initiate the first ever Eller Social Impact Consulting Project.

“The question was, how would you recommend bringing internet access to a remote region, such as Mesetas in central Colombia?” said Rahul Joshi, Network Planning Program Manager at Microsoft. “What would it take to have a successful pilot that we could learn from and apply elsewhere?”

To tackle this special challenge, Business Consulting Executive Director Sandy Kenny brought together five MBA students: Carlos Castellanos, BS Industrial Engineering; Ankita Chaudhari, BE Electronics and Telecommunications; Sahil Dadwal, BE Computer Science; Shawn Davis, BS Finance; and Ankita Mishra, BE Chemical Engineering. Eller Business Consulting teams are made up of three to six second-semester students selected by Kenny for their applicable skills and interests. While this team was strong on technical and business skills, she said, they also found value in working on a project that could help lift people out of poverty.

“We loved the opportunity to find out how technology can assist underserved populations,” said Mishra, who was the team lead.

Located east of the Andes Mountains near a rain forest, Mesetas is similar in geographic size to the state of Rhode Island, but with a population of only 11,000, most of whom make a living through small-scale agriculture, such as coffee growing. Mesetas was highly impacted by the 52-year civil war between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, which ended in a ceasefire deal last year. Though the government has been providing internet access to the country’s poorest metropolitan areas via a fiber-optic cable network, the MBA consulting team realized that the challenging terrain, dispersed population, and poor infrastructure around Mesetas meant the remote region could not be physically connected that way.

The team worked to validate the technological feasibility and positive social impact of using TV white space (TVWS), the blocks of unused broadcast spectrum between assigned television channels, to bring wireless internet to Mesetas. TVWS uses a radio transmitter on a fiber node and a radio receiver at the point of access to convert the TVWS signal into a Wi-Fi signal that can be used by computers, tablets, and phones.

Under the guidance of Eller faculty, the team worked closely with Joshi and other Microsoft representatives to create a TVWS plan that was customized for the region’s unique geographic, socioeconomic, and political situation. When it was clear the team needed to talk with other experts, Joshi connected the students with Mary Fifield, a consultant who specializes in international organizational development, and with several nongovernmental organizations and coffee growers’ associations in Colombia.

“Microsoft has been a great partner,” said Associate Professor of Management and Organizations Joseph Broschak, who was a faculty advisor on the project along with Diza Sauers, Professor of Practice in Business Communication. “The number of times they met with the team and the connections and resources they provided to the students was a remarkable. Their commitment to our students and to this social impact project was impressive.”

Though Microsoft has a long history of working with Eller Business Consulting Projects, this social impact pilot project was Joshi’s first time serving as a consulting team advisor. He originally asked the team to do a case study to determine how to implement TVWS for coffee growers and schools in Mesetas, but he quickly realized that he had underestimated the students.

“By the middle of the project, it was clear they were they were hitting a home run,” he said. “So, in standard Microsoft fashion, we pushed the team to help us scale approach.”

Joshi asked the students to use what they had learned in creating the plan for Mesetas to come up with a process that Microsoft could use to determine the feasibility of implementing TVWS and broadband technologies in other remote areas.

“Microsoft has datacenters around the world and every one of them presents an opportunity to connect more people to the benefits of technology,” Joshi said.

In a final presentation in May, the team explained its research and recommendations for bringing TVWS to Mesetas and shared the many ways its implementation could amplify social impact in the region: increased access to technology for residents, enriched educational opportunities for children, and for individual coffee growers, improved crop management and easier communication with other farmers and buyers.

“We’re trying to break down physical barriers by building virtual connectivity,” Castellanos said, who was the team’s data manager.

Joshi and Natalie Eisner, a Microsoft engineer who has been involved in the project, came to the presentation in person, and a representative from Microsoft Colombia connected via Skype to listen in.

“It’s a real feather in your cap when Microsoft Colombia dials in because they need to hear what you guys think,” Joshi said.

The presentation concluded with the team delivering a decision tree analysis that Microsoft can use to determine the feasibility of implementing TVWS anywhere. Joshi thanked the five team members for going the extra mile and shared how Microsoft planned to build on their work.

“This was a lot of extra effort on your part and I really appreciate that,” he said. “We will include this thinking in operationalizing this framework at a global scale for Microsoft.”

After wrapping up, Mishra added that the team had one more call planned with the NGOs they had been working with in Colombia to update them on their final recommendations. Joshi was incredibly impressed with the students’ commitment and professionalism.

“I started working on the project with MBA students, and I finished working with a team of consultants,” he said. “Talk about ownership. This is not a school project to them anymore. This is real.”

Mishra agreed that the team united around their shared desire to produce a plan that could have real global impact.

“We started this project as a course, but it became our baby,” she said. “We worked on it night and day. It was a great experience.”

This illustrates the purpose of Eller Business Consulting Projects, which are a core component of the Eller experience, Kenny said. While the projects have traditionally been an opportunity for MBA and MS MIS students, they will soon include all of Eller Master’s Programs.

“These consulting projects provide students with amazing, real-world learning experiences,” she said. “Microsoft projects are always wonderful because it’s clear that they want students to stretch and learn.”

With the social impact pilot being such a success, Joshi has already spoken with Kenny about a couple more social impact initiatives for the next round of Eller Business Consulting Projects.

“We plan to deepen our commitment to the program,” he said. “We’re getting valuable tangible benefits that we’re taking back to the operations of our company. There are professional consultants that you don’t end up doing that with. That’s a testament to the quality of the Eller MBA program.”

Research has shown that how trusting a person is may depend, at least in part, on his or her genes. However, distrust does not appear to be inherited in the same way, according to a new study led by the University of Arizona.

“This research supports the idea that distrust is not merely the opposite of trust,” said Martin Reimann, assistant professor of marketing and lead author of the study.

“Both trust and distrust are strongly influenced by the individual’s unique environment, but what’s interesting is that trust seems to be significantly influenced by genetics, while distrust is not. Distrust appears to be primarily socialized,” Reimann said.

Based on the core principles of behavioral genetics, if genetics explain variations in distrust and trust behaviors, then identical twins should behave more similarly to each other than fraternal twins, since the genes of identical twins are shared, while the genes of fraternal twins are only imperfectly correlated, Reimann said.

Oliver Schilke, Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations

Studying the two different types of twins allowed researchers to estimate the relative influence of three different factors on twins’ trust and distrust trust behaviors: heritable factors (that is, genetic influences); shared environmental factors (common experiences of growing up in the same family and interacting with the same immediate peers); and unshared environmental factors (the siblings’ unique experiences in life).

For the research, 324 identical and 210 fraternal twins participated in a study task that asked them to decide how much money to send to another study participant (representing trust) and another task that asked them to decide how much money to take away from another participant (representing distrust).

The researchers found that the identical twin pairs behaved more similarly than the fraternal twin pairs in their trust behaviors but not their distrust behaviors, suggesting that genetics influence trust, but not distrust.

Overall, analyses estimated that trust is 30 percent heritable, while distrust is not at all heritable. Meanwhile, the estimated contribution of shared environment to distrust was 19 percent, while shared environment didn’t contribute at all to trust.

Unshared environment — or the twins’ independent experiences in life — had the biggest impact on both trust and distrust, with unshared experiences contributing 81 percent to distrust and 70 percent to trust. In other words, much of a person’s propensity to trust or distrust is neither inherited nor commonly socialized. It is instead influenced by unique experiences in life.

“We all have a stock of past experiences that we draw on to help determine how we are going to behave in different situations, and future research should look at what particular types of life experiences could be the most influential on trust or distrust,” Reimann said. “Disposition to trust, however, is not a product of experience alone; genetic influence is also significant. But we don’t see the same genetic influence with distrust.”

The online MS in Accounting program is created for individuals who desire a more flexible schedule. “The Online MSA allows a student to continue developing their professional career in their current place of employment,” said Janeé Johnson, accounting lecturer and director of accounting master’s programs and outreach. “The advanced coursework will help students further a career in professional accounting while earning credit towards obtaining a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license.”

“Many states, such as California and Texas, have unique requirements for their CPA certification,” added master’s program coordinator Alex Miller. “The coursework in the Online MSA program will help meet these unique requirements.”

Students in the UA accounting master’s programs perform particularly well on the CPA exam, with a 70% pass rate on their first attempt within one year after graduation. The national average pass rate in 2016 was 49%. This spring two Master of Accounting students — Adam Martinez (no. 3) and Joshua DeYoung (no. 9) — scored in the top ten in the state of Arizona on the CPA.

While the on-ground accounting master’s programs are designed around a set schedule of courses on specific days and times, online courses are self-paced within the semester. Students in the Online MSA complete 30 units comprised of 18 required online accounting classes and 12 online MBA and accounting electives. The program has start dates for fall, spring and summer, with rolling admissions. The length of the program will vary between students, but may be completed in as little as one year.

The Online Graduate Accounting Certificate is designed for students and professionals with a foundational accounting background. Students can select nine to 18 units of online graduate-level accounting coursework tailored to their needs. This certificate provides advanced-level accounting courses to supplement foundational knowledge. It also enables students to obtain additional coursework necessary for becoming a CPA.

Editor’s Note: Crystal Deschinny provided the 2017 Eller College Graduate Convocation address. She is the Director for the Division of Economic Development at the Navajo Nation. The Navajo Nation is the largest Indian reservation in the U.S., with just over 300,000 tribal members. In one of the nation’s most challenging economic environments, Crystal is tasked with improving the Nation’s economic climate and job creation. Her work respects the culture, language, and traditions of the Navajo while incorporating mainstream, innovative business concepts and ideas. Before working for the Navajo Nation, Crystal served as CEO at Tolowa Deeni Nation and as the finance and investment manager at Forest County Potawatomi in northern Wisconsin. She has been an active fundraiser for the University of Arizona and the American Cancer Society’s DetermiNation program, and also runs in marathons to support fundraising efforts. Crystal holds an undergraduate degree in finance and completed both of her master’s degrees at the University of Arizona – including her Eller MBA.

I am thrilled to stand here today as a two-time University of Arizona alumna and devoted Wildcat. It truly is an honor and privilege to celebrate this wonderful milestone with all of you.

My name is Crystal Deschinny. I am currently the Director for the Division of Economic Development at Navajo Nation. I lead a team of 61, work with 22 Council Delegates, 110 Chapters, report to the President and Vice President, and live a very public life spanning 27,000 square miles. I have chosen to work within Indian Country where I am challenged daily, am inspired by the many people I meet, and am determined to empower my relations as we pursue our sovereignty. However, today is not about me.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to watch my husband take this very same stage and receive his MBA. It was during that time that I observed something different which left a deep impression within me. I noticed the admiration and look of wonder in the eyes of several children positioned at the end of the stage as they anxiously awaited; then I took notice of those in the crowd.

I then wondered if others saw what I did. I wondered if they saw this in that same context as I did — that this day was truly a beginning of something more. The wonder, admiration, and unsureness in what they were observing drew me away from the words of encouragement to focus on the meaning of their gaze.

Today, take notice that in the eyes of the children and those around you, this day becomes the beginning of your pathway to lead.

In Their Eyes

To the East, my eyes look to the beginning, to the sun, to the freedom found in the dawn. I find growth is inevitable. There is unsureness in what is not known, curiosity over where I may be, and apprehension of not knowing who’s with me, beside me, around me, within me. Growth, excitement, courage, inspired by a promise of security, drive the need to reach forward to outline the rays. Built upon a carefully constructed foundation designed to withstand change and earned with dedication, in my eyes I lead.

Growth. Quietly. Confidently. Enthusiastically.

To the South, in his eyes the rays expand to embrace the flurry of activity. There is a need to be the risk-taker, the creator of ideas, and owner of challenges that occurred long before. Strength, conviction, and steadfastness draw in belief of honest abilities and of the possibility of what could have been, should have been, would have been and will be. A test of trueness to him and to her lie at the heart of a clearly planned pathway constricted by conviction that the heavily ingrained tools of success will be the much-needed resilience in troubling times. In his eyes and hers, I lead.

Expand. Embrace. Truth. Strength.

To the West, their eyes look to the peak of the rays to find a message of hope. There is a need for movement, innovative direction, and guidance that will save them from their dormancy. Promise, clarity, and direction are drawing them to see you, to hear you, to be near you as they confide in you to share their weighted shoulder sprinkled with time and challenge. In their eyes, I lead.

Direction. Promise. Challenge. Clarity.

To the North, our eyes fall with the rays as they reach for the earth. There is a need to retreat into our self, to restore our being, and to dig deep to touch the fragments of renewal preserved to reignite long-ago excitement. Weary, heavy with understanding, therein lies a ray streaked with the promise of the freedom found in the dawn. In our eyes, I will lead.

Retreat. Restore. Transform. Reignite.

You live your life with the respect to the Four Directions and the need to find balance within yourself to begin again. Today, you leave with excitement but you will find you will be weighted by the challenges, the obstacles, and those who will shake your ability to lead. You will become the risk-taker, the challenger, the pleaser, the innovator of ideas. You will be praised, rewarded, and celebrated by others who will lay down the foundation, provide encouragement, and who will follow your lead.

And in your quiet moments, remember, you are never alone. You will lead with the strength of those whose gaze begins in the East.

Even early on, I knew I wanted to work in healthcare. Growing up, I learned French and met people from West Africa, instilling a personal passion to impact care on a global scale. I earned my undergraduate degree in international studies and global health, and also fulfilled my pre-medical requirements. After graduation, I worked in Togo and Equatorial Guinea with various organizations to improve clinical operations, devise educational training programs, and establish clinical supply networks.

I learned what it takes to work in resource-poor areas, navigating cultural barriers and political conflicts of interest. Most interestingly, I got to see medicine at its roots. Away from the tangled web of payer and provider networks and value-based service models, I got to see healthcare as one provider, one patient, and one treatment. The problems faced by these professionals are not unique to the developing world, and I realized I needed to expand my skills to make a more substantial and sustainable impact.

However, as I took classes, attended networking events, and pushed myself at case competitions, I discovered a never-ending labyrinth of doors to new opportunities. I went to every professional development event I could attend, and was constantly on the phone speaking to professionals in every niche of the healthcare world. Suddenly, there were so many possible paths in front of me – which was both exhilarating and terrifying.

Without the education and professional growth opportunities I had at Eller, I would not be who I am now. Having a safe space to explore and fail gave me the freedom to reconstruct my original life plan into something I am now even more excited about.

If I can give one piece of advice to those who go through the program behind me, it would be to talk to everyone, take advantage of every opportunity, and don’t be afraid to rethink.

I chose an incredibly exciting position in healthcare IT, and I cannot wait to start after graduation this month.

My dream is still to positively impact the quality and accessibility of healthcare in the developing world, but I now realize there are so many paths left to explore before I finally say, “I am what I want to be when I grow up.”

Deloitte CEO Cathy Engelbert was recognized last month as the 2017 University of Arizona Executive of the Year. Nearly 500 people attended the award luncheon in Tucson.

Engelbert is the first female CEO of Deloitte and is responsible for leading nearly 80,000 professionals who provide audit, tax, consulting and advisory services to more than 80 percent of Fortune 500 companies.

“Cathy Engelbert’s career trajectory has been remarkable,” said Eller College Dean Paulo Goes. “Not only did she become the first female CEO of one of the big four accounting and consulting firms, she also changed Deloitte’s corporate culture to emphasize the importance of mentorship, inclusion and work-life balance.”

In her keynote address, Engelbert likened leadership to a team sport and reviewed her five truths of leadership. She began by emphasizing the first and easiest truth to accomplish: the need to “get the small things right and the big things will come easier.”

A basketball player in college and a big fan of the sport today, her second truth of leadership is to “shoot when you are open,” adding that the key is to know when to take the shot.

“Be your best, even in your darkest moments,” she said of the third truth, adding that it is also important to be your best during ordinary moments.

Engelbert’s fourth truth of leadership is to prioritize tasks over people. “Find good people and develop them to be your successors,” she said.

Citing the exponential pace of change and volume of data in the new world, Engelbert concluded with her fifth truth to “never graduate,” emphasizing the importance of becoming lifelong learners.

“You need to be unrelenting,” she said. “Go for your goals and believe you can get there.”

Engelbert shared that more than 150 Eller College graduates work for Deloitte. Several were in the audience.

She then took questions from the audience and shared that her two favorite books are The Fourth Industrial Revolution by Professor Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, and Thank You for Being Late by Thomas L. Friedman.

For some 70 Eller students, the event also featured private up-close sessions, where both undergraduate and master’s students could meet Engelbert, hear her career advice, and ask her questions.

Megan Shulby is a dual MBA/MIS student in the Full-Time MBA program who is concentrating in marketing, business intelligence and cybersecurity.

“The Executive of the Year Luncheon was an awakening experience for me,” Shulby said. “I say this because I had never participated in an event that focused on the exemplified accomplishments of a female CEO in a Fortune 100 company. The luncheon enabled me to realize the impact that a single woman can have on an entire industry and empower other aspiring CEOs to do the same,” Shulby said.

Shulby, who will graduate in December 2017, was grateful for the opportunity to participate in the up-close session with the accomplished CEO.

“It was marvelous to get an ‘up close and personal’ experience with her. She was very approachable and authentic — and answered questions from students in a concise matter through storytelling,” she said. “It was a very valuable experience to me. I was reminded of what a young woman and a young professional can do to make an impact in the working world. Sometimes we have to be reminded of the simple things that we can do to grow and evolve, including believing in yourself, not fearing failure and accepting the challenges around us.”

Jon Ferng, a Full-Time MBA student, also found the experience to be valuable.

“I learned how she has won the hearts of her employees by prioritizing people over tasks. Like her, I share the belief that mental and physical well-being are both paramount to an individual’s productivity and ability to make an impact,” he said.

Ferng, who will graduate in May 2017, said he was struck by Engelbert’s integrity.

“Seeing such an accomplished individual speak to us with enthusiasm and without the slightest hint of arrogance was a truly humbling experience,” he said. “My favorite quote from her is, ‘In order to be your best in your darkest moments, you must be your best in your ordinary moments.’ To me, this is a reminder to always be truthful, compassionate and tolerant, no matter the circumstances.”

Ferng also participated in the roundtable discussion and was grateful that Engelbert made time to meet with the students.

“Two qualities she looks for in potential hires are the ability to think on your feet and the ability to be a good storyteller; Eller does an outstanding job of teaching both,” he said.

Before the keynote address, Dean Goes welcomed the guests, telling them that Cathy Engelbert did not aspire to be a CEO, but rather she wanted to be a strong leader. He then presented her with an original sculpture by Deborah Copenhaver-Fellows donated by Warren Rustand, CEO of Tycon, Inc. and emeritus member of Eller’s National Board of Advisors.

Ph.D. in Experimental and Social Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

“Human decision making is not only interesting, but also quite non-intuitive. I therefore spend less time talking in class, and more time engaging the student in decision tasks that demonstrate their own tendencies for decision biases.”

What brought you to the Eller College?

The main attraction was research excellence in decision making, both within Eller, the Management and Organizations (then Management and Policy) department, and across many units on campus. On top of that, Eller had terrific infrastructure for the type of research I do, including two state-of-the-art laboratories for investigating human behavior.

How long have you been at Eller?

It’s hard to believe, but this coming July, it will be 13 years. We first arrived to Tucson in July 2004, and I remember stepping off the plane and thinking that I fell into a furnace.

What is your current research, and what most excites you about that area of focus?

My research focuses on interactive decisions. Interactive decisions are decisions whose outcomes depend not only on the choices of the focal decision maker, but also on decisions that are made by other agents within the same environment. Specifically, I focus on decisions made by groups, the interplay between emotions/perceptions and decision making (fear, anger, happiness, greed) and trust-related decisions.

What are you currently teaching, and what do you most enjoy about teaching?

I teach managerial decision making (undergraduates) as well as statistics and research methods (Ph.D.-level seminars). My undergraduate class is a particularly fun one. Human decision making is not only interesting, but also quite non-intuitive. I therefore spend less time talking in class, and more time engaging the student in decision tasks that demonstrate their own tendencies for decision biases, such as overconfidence, escalation of commitment, misperceptions of probabilities, and more. Teaching Ph.D. students is very different – here the emphasis is on giving them the skills and knowledge to become successful researchers. Watching them grow from curious individuals to competent and effective researchers over the course of our five-year program is one of the most satisfying aspects of my job as a teacher.

How do you bring your research into your teaching?

Like all faculty, I love to talk about what I do. I therefore use my own studies as examples for the material I teach. There is a big difference between teaching analytical techniques using abstract, hypothetical examples, and showing my students how I used the techniques to answer my own research questions.

Beyond research and teaching, what are your passions?

As a mother of four children, ages one to 11 years old, I have very little time for non-work passions. When I can, I enjoy cooking and baking, traveling with my family, and spending time outdoors. My husband (who is also on the Eller faculty) and I try to engage the family in as many activities as we can to create well-rounded children – we take them camping, hiking, skiing; we run races with them; and we try our best to bring up educated, independent, and compassionate human beings.

Photo of Tamar Kugler and management doctoral students by Eller College of Management.

Dr. Paul Melendez, Professor of Practice in Management and Operations and Founder of the Center for Leadership Ethics.
Photo by Eller College of Management.

Dr. Melendez’s case, “Child Labor: Little Hands, Big Profits,” discusses child labor in Bangladesh, which does not in fact violate the law in Bangladesh, though it is against the law in the United States. The purpose of this case is to make people think about ethics in the context of culture. The case puts a different perspective on ethical dilemmas; the issue of child labor is accepted in various cultures because it’s a norm. Melendez got students to rustle with the question of Which ethics to do you follow? and Do your actions follow with what you grew up with or what businesses do?

Students from the Center for Leadership Ethics and the professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi led discussions while participating high school students evaluated and discussed their ethical explanations for each case.

The forum tested the students, challenging their ethical thinking and interpretations, raising awareness of the importance of corporate social responsibility, and providing a networking opportunity.

“The High School Ethics Forum is an outstanding opportunity to expose some of the best and brightest Arizona high school students to the essential concepts and consequences of business and personal ethics,” said Mitch Pisik, Chairman of the Vantage West Credit Union’s Board of Directors.

Pisik has been actively involved in business strategy and ethics forums. He has also given presentations for corporations, been involved with MBA classes, and now works with high school students.

“The responses, discussions, and thought processes of these teenagers were within striking distance of their older brethren. A very impressive group,” said Pisik.

Pisik knows the students left the forum with “an expanded, broader, and deeper appreciation for the complexities of the world overall, and in business specifically.” He was particularly impressed with the quality and quantity of questions they asked him and Melendez.

He left the students with an inspirational statement: “It all starts with ethics. If you have ethics, then you have trust. If you have trust, then you can be a leader. If you are a leader, then you have multiple opportunities. If you have opportunities, then you can succeed in life. And when you succeed, life is sweet. It all starts with ethics.”

The Eller MBA program has seen its U.S. News & World Report rankings climb over the last several months.

Students looking for the highest income return from their tuition investment should consider the University of Arizona’s Master of Business Administration (MBA) program, according to rankings released by U.S. News in November. The authority on best grad schools has ranked the Eller MBA program sixth in the nation for return on investment.

The average salary and signing bonus for Eller MBA students within three months of graduation was $100,850 in 2015. The average student in the Eller MBA program graduated with just over $32,000 in debt. That’s a 3.1 to 1 salary to debt ratio, and places the Eller MBA at the top for ROI.

And this March, the U.S. News & World Report 2018 Best Graduate Schools edition ranked Eller’s Management Information Systems (MIS) No. 2 among public programs in the United States. The MIS program advanced up a notch to No. 4 overall, behind MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and the University of Texas – Austin.

“Today’s top companies demand graduates who have a thorough understanding and real-world experience in big-data analytics, cybersecurity and IT development. Eller’s MIS faculty have done an outstanding job preparing students for these careers, and to learn that our MIS program is ranked as the second best among public programs is a true testament to their teaching skills and dedication,” said Eller College Dean Paulo Goes, who previously served as Salter Professor and the department head of MIS.

In addition to the MIS top ranking, the Full-Time Eller MBA program jumped from No. 60 to No. 49 overall, and ranked No. 24 among public programs. Other notable rankings include Eller’s Evening MBA, which tied with six other universities to rank as No. 46 overall and ranked as No. 30 among public programs.

“The Eller Experience extends far beyond graduation,” Schau said. “We have a very strong alumni networking group that fosters recruitment and professional development of our graduate students. We’re also very proud that U.S. News & World Report ranked the Eller MBA sixth in return on investment last November.”

The U.S. News graduate rankings take into consideration a variety of factors including peer and recruiter reputation, average GMAT, average starting salary, percentage of employed students upon graduation, and more. Complete methodology details are available online at www.usnews.com/gradmeth.

The Eller College currently offers four ways to earn an MBA: the Full-Time MBA program at the Tucson campus; a part-time Evening MBA program at both Tucson and Phoenix campuses; an Executive MBA at the Phoenix campus, which is designed for seasoned executives and managers with seven-plus years of experience; and the Online MBA, with six starts per year.

A McGuire Entrepreneurship Program new venture team that is pioneering a new breed of smart sensor technology for self-driving cars was selected as a finalist for two business plan competitions that offered more than $1.6 million in prizes. Nunami Labs was a finalist in the Rice Business Plan Competition and the ASU Innovation Open, both in April. The team won second place and $700 in the Challenge Rounds at the Rice competition.

“I was thrilled to be selected as a finalist,” said Nunami Labs team member Kory Chinn. “Being recognized as a finalist in these competitions validates all the hard work we’re putting in, and is a fantastic opportunity. We are competing against teams from schools like MIT and Stanford, known for producing prominent startups, so being selected for the finals really speaks to the quality and caliber of the McGuire Program.”

The tech startup is being developed by Chinn (MIS and Entrepreneurship ’17), Ryan Leeper (MIS and Entrepreneurship ’17), and Scott Marshall (Electrical and Computer Engineering, ’17). The three students have been working together since fall of 2016 to develop Nunami Labs in the top-ranked McGuire Program, a competitive-entry program in which University of Arizona students spend a year developing an innovation from early-stage idea to launch-ready business plan.

Using innovative technology and manufacturing techniques, the high-performance smart sensors Nunami Labs is commercializing will grant future autonomous vehicles the ability to react to the environment, creating safer roads by reducing the 94 percent of accidents caused by human error, said Leeper.

There were 750 applicants for the Rice Business Plan Competition, and Nunami Labs was chosen as one of the 42 finalists to compete April 6-8. The selective competition – known as the world’s richest and largest student startup competition – offered $1.5 million in prizes.

Nunami Labs also was one of nearly three dozen teams that pitched and fielded tough questions from a panel of evaluators in the first round of the ASU Innovation Open, a new intercollegiate innovation competition designed to fuel multidisciplinary teams of collegiate founders. One of four startups selected to compete in the finals on April 2, Nunami Labs received a $5,000 award from Zero Mass Water to prepare for the ASU Innovation Open Demo Day, which had a $100,000 top prize.

While the prizes were a draw, the team is also looking forward to honing its pitching skills and networking with entrepreneurial leaders, potential partners, and investors at the competitions.

“We applied for business plan competitions because they contain a wealth of resources for student startups,” Leeper said. “The feedback from judges will help refine our business plan, there are numerous networking opportunities and chances to meet leaders in the community, and – if we win – the prize money will be huge in our early development.”

An offering of the McGuire Center for Entrepreneurship at the UA’s Eller College of Management, the McGuire Program is open to undergraduate and graduate students from all fields of study. In fact, McGuire Program students often benefit from collaborating with peers in other fields of study, and Nunami Labs is a great example of the strength of a cross-disciplinary new venture development team, said McGuire Program Director Joseph Broschak, Ph.D.

“As an engineering student, I wanted to break out of my mold and expand my horizons, and I’ve always been fascinated by the world of business and new ventures,” said Marshall. “The McGuire Program allowed me to branch out into business while allowing me to leverage my engineering abilities.”

In addition to bringing together their multidisciplinary team, the McGuire Program also has been fundamental in facilitating the cross-campus collaborations required to make Nunami Labs possible, said Leeper. The team got the idea for the business at an Engineering Roundtable the McGuire Program hosted early in the Fall semester. When Hao Xin, Ph.D, a UA Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, talked about the sensor technology he invented, the trio jumped at the opportunity to commercialize it.

“The team at Nunami Labs is a great example of how hard work and understanding the principles of entrepreneurship can transport university research from a lab into an emerging growth company,” said McGuire Program Mentor in Residence Dan Janes. “Their ability to bring together leading researchers from Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tech Launch Arizona, and industry experts demonstrates how companies are built by collaboration and community.”

Janes, an experienced and successful tech entrepreneur, has been meeting with Nunami Labs weekly since the group began the program. That extra hands-on guidance and the chance to work on their venture for a year while still in school is giving their business an advantageous head start, said Chinn.

“The McGuire Program offers a tremendous amount of support, as well as guidance from our mentors,” he said. “As successful investors and startup founders themselves, they’ve been in our shoes and can guide us through the uncertainty that comes with venturing into something new and uncharted. Since we are at the early stages of our venture, this mentorship has been especially invaluable.”

Leeper is grateful for the support the McGuire Program has provided in empowering him to create his dream job.

“It’s rewarding and naturally motivating to work for a cause you believe in and have a hand in creating, and the McGuire Program helps make it all possible,” he said. “Everything from resources for prototypes and travel, one-on-one mentorship with business leaders, technology to expand our ideas, event organization, and networking opportunities, the McGuire Program is the perfect mix of tools and people to enable our success.”